Handi Quilter

With a life-long interest in sewing, Laurel Barrus, founder of Handi Quilter, had the idea for the “Handi Quilter” portable frame when she was looking for a way to take a portable machine quilting frame to her family cabin. She could not find anything to suit her needs in the marketplace, so she worked with her father to create something that could be used with her own home sewing machine. It had to be light and small enough to carry in her car yet adjustable so it could accommodate small or large quilts. When her friends saw the portable, adjustable frame she had created, they wanted one too.

Seeing her friends’ interest in her new frame, Laurel named it the “Handi Quilter” and set out to see if there was a market for it. She worked with several suppliers, produced a prototype and took it to the International Quilt Festival in Houston in October of 2000. On the first day of the festival, she called her fabricators and told them she had received enough orders to keep them busy until Christmas.

By May of 2001, the business was incorporated and Laurel and her husband Roger went to quilt shows around the country to sell and advertise the “Handi Quilter”, as well as set up wholesale business relationships with quilt shop owners to sell the frame.

Today, Handi Quilter continues to lead out in the quilting industry, following our founder’s vision – “Designed by a Quilter, for Quilters”®.

In 2010, Handi Quilter became the only longarm quilting machine company to achieve worldwide safety and electrical certificates for our quilting machines and systems, allowing HQ expand to more than 700 worldwide independent retail locations. Our dedicated engineering team works with quilters when creating new and innovative products. Handi Quilter’s continued focus on education is shared with national educators in our HQ Studio and throughout the U.S. who share their talents and information. Our recognized leading Customer Relations Team and Technical Solutions Team focus on quilters’ needs every day. Our retail partners are trained and certified the HQ Way, providing information and service in their local communities and our production team is focused on building the highest quality machines in the quilting industry.

If you are interested in ordering a Handi Quilter product please use the contact form below or call us at (830) 597-6310